FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The 77th varsity season of Fairfield University Men's Basketball tips off on Monday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. at the University of Rhode Island. Head Coach Chris Casey leads a roster of eight returners and 10 newcomers into the new campaign.

THE 2024-25 STAGS
Fairfield's eight returners are comprised of three players who appeared in 25+ games last season (Bleechmore, Seck, Smith), four who played in between eight and 17 games (Curtis, Davidson, McPartlan) and one who did not see game action in 2024-25 (Ganton).

The Stags 10 newcomers are made up of seven student-athletes who have spent time on a Division I roster (Bergens, Best, Jenkins, Johnson, Perry, Riek, Sparks), one true freshmen (Munkadi), and two sophomores in their first season of college basketball (May, Ostop).

THE STAGS' STAFF
Chris Casey is in his second season as head coach, starting the 2023-24 campaign as interim head coach and receiving the full-time title prior to the 2024 MAAC Championship. Assistant coaches Glenn Braica and Taj Benning return for their second season in the same roles. Matt Knezovic moves from "DOBO" to assistant coach in his second year on the staff, and Matt Scott, who was an All-MAAC player for Casey at Niagara, joins the coaching staff for his first season as an assistant coach.

THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND RAMS
Rhode Island is coming off of a 12-20 season in 2023-24 with a 6-12 conference record. The Rams were tabbed for 11th of 15 teams in this year's A-10 Preseason Poll. Jaden House was tabbed for the Preseason Third Team after averaging 14.1 points per game last season.

URI made a summer trip to the Bahamas, picking up wins over two Canadian teams in the University of Calgary and the University of Victoria as well as the Bahamas Select squad.

Back stateside, the Rams lost a 102-75 exhibition to reigning National Champion UConn on Oct. 14. Western Michigan transfer Javonte Brown led URI with 16 points and 10 rebounds against the Huskies.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Rhode Island has won all six prior encounters with the Stags. The most famous clash was the first as the two NCAA hopefuls met in the 1978 ECAC Tournament. Sly Williams' Rams edged out the Stags, 71-69. Rhode Island went on to fall to Duke in the (32-team) NCAA Tournament, while Fairfield played at Dayton in the 1978 NIT.

Aside from first-time opponent John Jay, URI is the only team on the 2024-25 slate that the Stags have never defeated.

STAGS VS. NEW ENGLAND
The Stags are 166-183 all-time against the current Division I basketball programs in New England.

Fairfield has never lost to regional foes Dartmouth (4-0), Merrimack (4-0) and Sacred Heart (10-0). The only two Division I teams in New England that the Stags have never defeated both reside in the Ocean State. Fairfield is 0-6 against Rhode Island and has never played Bryant, which joined the Division I ranks in 2008.

2023-24 AT A GLANCE
Fairfield Men's Basketball finished the 2023-24 season at 24-13 - one win short of matching the program's single-season wins record. After a 14-6 showing the MAAC regular season, the second-seeded Stags reached the 2024 MAAC Championship Game and, the following week, advanced to the CBI Semifinals.

Fairfield's 2,794 points scored last season were a program record and the Stags' 75.5 points per game were their highest scoring average since 2017-18. That total was sparked by a program-best 342 made three-pointers that ranked 11th in the nation.

Defensively, the Stags had a program record 314 steals. The average of 8.5 steals per game were the best for a Fairfield club since 1999-2000 and the third-best season average in program history. Jasper Floyd bolstered that mark with an individual single-season record of 87 thefts.

HIGH MILEAGE
With 3,415 minutes played in four seasons at Lafayette, Kyle Jenkins has played the most Division I minutes of any player on a MAAC roster entering the 2024-25 campaign.

TWO DOZEN DUBS
At 24-13 overall in 2023-24, Fairfield secured its first 20-win season since a 22-15 campaign in 2011-12. The campaign marked the eighth 20-win season in Fairfield history and the fourth time that the Stags have earned 23 or more Division I victories in a season. At 14-6 in the MAAC, the Stags posted their most conference wins since a 15-3 performance en route to the MAAC Regular Season Championship in 2010-11.

NOTABLE NETS
Fairfield finished 2023-24 with the MAAC's best NET ranking at 162. The Stags owned the MAAC's strongest non-conference win of the season with a Quad 2 win at #86 Yale, the Ivy League Tournament Champion. The conference's only other Quad 2 win is a Canisius victory at #89 St. Bonaventure.

CHAMPS CLIPPED
Fairfield defeated three eventual conference champs and NCAA postseason qualifiers during the regular season in 2023-24 with wins over Yale (Ivy), Wagner (NEC) and a pair of victories against MAAC Champion Saint Peter's.

IN THE MAAC PRESEASON POLL
Fairfield was picked fourth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, garnering one first-place vote from the conference's 13 head coaches. The Stags were one point ahead of fifth-place Saint Peter's, the reigning MAAC Champion. Quinnipiac collected 11 first-place votes to top the preseason ledger, with Marist slotted second and Iona in third.

PRESEASON ALL-MAAC
Deon Perry was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team, Perry averaged a Patriot League-leading 17.3 points per game last season at Loyola Maryland, knocking down 79 three-pointers on .351 shooting from distance. He bolstered his scoring totals with a .911 free throw percentage, good for 10th in the nation. Perry also ranked in the top-10 in the Patriot League in assists and slotted fourth in the conference with 1.48 steals per game.

UP NEXT
This Saturday, the Stags head to Washington, D.C. for a 4 p.m. contest at Ed Cooley's Georgetown Hoyas. Georgetown opens its 2024-25 campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 6 against Lehigh.